Taste Ontario's Sweetest Season

News Release

Taste Ontario's Sweetest Season

Celebrate Spring with Local Maple Syrup

After a long winter, Ontario's maple trees produce the sap used to make delicious maple products that you can enjoy such as syrup, maple butter, taffy, candy, sauces and maple sap drinks.

Syrup production begins in southwestern Ontario and progresses towards eastern Ontario, the north and northeast, where the first sap harvest may differ by as much as two to three weeks.

During harvest season, more than 1.5-million litres of syrup is made, making Ontario one of the top three producers in Canada, grossing more than $32 million in maple product sales and contributing over $53 million to Canada's GDP.

Supporting Ontario's agricultural sector is part of the government's economic plan for Ontario. The four part plan is building Ontario up by investing in people's talents and skills, building new public infrastructure like roads and transit, creating a dynamic, supportive environment where business thrives, and building a secure savings plan so everyone can afford to retire.

Quick Facts

Ideal temperatures for maple syrup production are -5 °C during the night and 5 °C during the day.

Ontario will be consulting with producers on how maple products in Ontario should be graded and classified. These consultations will also consider regulatory changes that could encourage innovation and improved food safety to support the sector’s growth.

In Ontario, maple syrup is produced from February through April, from the sap of four maple tree species.

It takes 40-45 litres of maple sap to make one litre of maple syrup.

Many First Nations, including the Algonquin peoples, tapped maples for sap and used it to flavour boiled meats and porridge, and as part of a health tonic. They were once the largest producers of maple sugar.

Additional Resources

Quotes

“Maple syrup is one of our province’s oldest traditional agricultural products. We are fortunate to have more than 2,500 maple syrup producers in Ontario. I encourage Ontarians to enjoy the outdoors and take part in local maple syrup festivals to taste the delicious maple syrup products available across the province.”